Five officers have been assigned to each Divisional Secretariat Division to strengthen child welfare work, Women and Child Affairs Ministry Secretary Tharangani Wickramasinghe said on Thursday.
She was speaking at a media briefing at the head office and media centre of the “Ratama Ekata” national campaign, held to raise awareness of the rescue and rehabilitation of children exposed to drugs.
The officers will also be deployed for programmes run under the “Ratama Ekata” campaign to reach children affected by drug abuse, Wickramasinghe said, adding that steps would be taken to carry out the related work efficiently.
Rehabilitation capacity expanded
Pradeep Koholanegedara, Deputy Director for Preventive Education and Training at the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, said the board’s rehabilitation treatment capacity has been expanded under the “Ratama Ekata” programme to provide greater support for children affected by drug-related problems.
Context
Divisional Secretariat Divisions are the administrative tier immediately below the district, and are the level at which most state social services reach households. Placing a standing complement of welfare officers at every division extends child protection coverage well beyond the district-level offices that have historically carried it.
The deployment lands as the government presses a broad anti-narcotics agenda. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake this week ordered a unified push on drug rehabilitation alongside a police modernisation drive, and drug-related enforcement has dominated policing announcements through the year.
No figure was given for the total number of officers involved, and the ministry did not say whether the posts are new recruitments or reassignments from existing cadres.
Source: Daily Mirror.
